Chris Ofili - The Merry Widow, With Afro Eclipse 1, 2003 *Poster*

Publisher: Glyndebourne
Year: 2024
Format: Digital print on Monte Carlo paper 300gsm
Edition: Limited Edition Of 150, *Posters Are Not Numbered
Condition: New / Unframed
Size: 90 x 60cm

Chris Ofili’s poster design for Lehár’s The Merry Widow features his drawing Afro Eclipse 1 (2003), which is related to a body of work that employs the red, black and green colours of Marcus Garvey’s 1920 Pan-African flag. In Afro Eclipse 1 a man and a woman meet under the influence of a sun and moon as they combine in a radiant eclipse, seemingly creating a celestial body with a golden core. The man, however, with the glare of gold in his eyes, covertly crosses his fingers in a gesture that might hint at the presence of competing suitors, or his hopes for a rewarding union – an evocation of lovers’ intrigues that chimes with the twists and turns of The Merry Widow. In creating the accompanying typography, Ofili took inspiration from posters and musical scores that were produced in the wake of the opera’s 1905 premiere.